Method of and machine for uniting layers of material



Feb. 4, 1936. HECKEL ET AL 2,029,922

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR UNITING LAYERS OF MATERIAL Original Filed March 20, 1933 l/VVENTOR. Jomv 7'- fl: GKLL .QAl-nv 5- Winner-@- Patented Feb. 4, 1936 DIETKOD OF AND MACHINE FOR UNITING. LAYERS F MATERIAL John T. Heckel and Ralph s. Walkcr,lndianp lis, Ind., assi tion,. Jersey gnors to Gold Dust Corpora- New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Original application March 20, 1933, Serial No. 661,782. Divided and this application January 26, 1934,Serial N 12 Claims. (Cl. 154-2) This invention relates to an apparatus and method for uniting layers of material and to the manufacture of liners and the like, especially for bottle or jar caps, and more particularly to improvements in the production of liners made up of a plurality of layers of material, oneof which is preferably impervious and resistant to the contents of the bottle or jar, while the other is generally formed of comparatively thick compressible material, the layers being secured together by adhesive.

Liners of this general character have been employed within bottle caps, such as those made of metal and adapted to be screwed on the bottle or jar, and are preferably of such diameter that their edges rest upon the rim of the bottle. Certain disadvantages have occurred in the manufacture and use of such liners asmade in the past. In the production of such liners the practice has been to apply a coating of adhesive to the surface of the compressible layer and apply the impervious layer and cut the liners from the sheet after the adhesive is dried. However, when adhesive is applied to such liners over the surface of a compressible material such as cardboard which is generally quite porous, the liner, upon the drying of the adhesive, becomes so stiff that the liner will not conform to the irregularities in the surface of the rim of the jar or bottle.

Furthermore, when a bottle cap is employed which has a ring extending downwardly from the inside of the top, and adapted to lie closely within and around the perimeter of the rim of the bottle, either for the P p se of indenting the liner to form a tight seal between the liner and the top of the bottle, or for the purpose of stiffening the'top of the cap to prevent it from doming, the stiffness of such liner is apt to result in the bending or doming of the cap thereby causing the portion of the top of the cap which overlies the mouth of the jar to cease to lie in an approximate parallel line to the surface of therim of the jar, resulting in a loss of a substantial amount of the effectiveness of the seal.

In the manufacture of bottle cap liners from webs of material in accordance with previous practice, certain additional disadvantages are noted. For one thing, when the glue is applied overthe surface of a web of material, even though another web is superposed thereomthe individual liners cannot be out from the web until the adhesive dries because the adhesive would be extruded from between the sheets and would gum up the machine employed for cutting out the liners. In order to permit the adhesive to dry, without requiring undue space. the webs of material between which the adhesive resides, have been rolled up. When the web is unroiled the impervious material is found to be longer than the compressible material and tends to stand up in waves upon the compressible material. When these waves are passed between rollers for feeding the webs to the blanking mechanism, wrinkles or folds are formed, these wrinkles or folds thus impairing the sealing qualities of the liner. Through the present invention, these disadvantages may be avoided and at the same time a liner produced in which the layers adhere sumciently for practical purposes.

An object of this invention is, accordingly, to

produce a novel and improved method of and machine for uniting layers of material and particularly for manufacturing liners for bottle caps and the like.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent in connection with the following detailed description of one form of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, somewhat diagrammatic, of one form of machine constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the means for app yi adhesive in accordance with the invention.

I Fig. 4 is a plan view of a liner made in accordance with the invention, portions of said liner being broken away. I

In the drawing, there is shown in Fig. 1 a machine lncluding rollers ill for guiding a web of paper H, preferably water-proofed as by paraffining on its side It, and a web l3 of material which is relatively thick and stiff as compared with the material II. The web l3 may advantageously consist of a suitable thickness of cushioning material such as news board, cardboard, or the like, having the desired flexibility and compressibilit for present purposes. The web I3 is shown passing below a guide roller I4 andthence to means for applying adhesive at spaced intervals to the web.

Such adhesive applying mechanism may advantageously consist of a device l5 including a well It for receiving liquid adhesive l1. At one side of the well IS a sump I8 is shown adapted to cooperatewith a plunger I9, actuated as hereinafter described. Below the sump there is prefvalve 23, preferably supported-upon some 'suitable resilient device such as helical or coil spring 23a. For forming the bottom of the chamber 22, a cap 24 may be provided having an outlet passage 25 communicating with the chamber 22 out of line with passage 20 and adapted to convey adhesive from the chamber to a point adjacent the web I3. This cap 24 may be secured to the extension 2| in any convenient manner, as for instance, by threads 26. A steam jacket l5a, having inlet |5b and outlet |5c for a heating medium, is preferably provided surrounding the adhesive container for maintaining the adhesive in a fluid state. The bottom of the jacket may have an aperture through which extension 2| projects, the bottom of the jacket bein'g spaced from the device l5 as by means of a nut 21, and

'being secured between the nut 21 and cap 24.

If desired, however, other heating means such as a burner or electric heating device may be employed.

The piston or plunger |9 is mounted so that when depressed its lower end enters the sump I8 to segregate a portion of adhesive and dispense it through the passages 20 and 25. A cavity 28 may be provided in the member l5 for receiving a spring 29 adapted to retract the plunger to the position shown in Fig. 3 through cooperation with a sleeve 30 or other suitable device which may be shrunk onto the piston or plunger, or otherwise suitably secured thereto. The upper end of the plunger is shown extending through a head 3| threaded into the upper end of the wall surrounding the cavity 28 to close the same and limit the upward extent of travel of the plunger by contact between said head and the sleeve 30.

In operation, the chamber 22 and passage 25 will ordinarily be filled with adhesive, and as the plunger descends upon each stroke the ball valve 23 will be forced downwardly to permit the passage of a given quantity of adhesive. When the downward movement of the piston is stopped, the valve will serve to seal the passage 20, the size of the opening 25 being such that the viscous adhesive will not drain from the chamber 22. The ball valve 23 and chamber 22 thus aid in dispensing a uniform quantity of adhesive and locating it Where desired without producing a stringy effect.

The invention may be used to advantage with continuous webs of material which may be drawn forward as by the driven press rollers 35, one of the webs being intermittently raised as successive points are directly beneath the adhesive dispensing device, while substantially at the same time a bit of glue is dispensed, the web thereupon moving or falling away rapidly. We have found that in this manner smearing or stringing of the adhesive along the moving web may be avoided. For accomplishing this, mechanism of the character which will now be described may advantageously be employed.

A member 36 may be mounted in guides 31, 38 for vertical sliding movement, these guides being suitably secured to an upright member (not shown) by arms 39 and screws .40 or other convenient fastening means. The arm 39 may also serve to support the glue dispensing member l5.

Secured for vertical adjustment by means of any suitable device, such as screws 4|a, to the upper end of the member 36there is shown a generally horizontal arm 4| adapted to cooperate with the plunger Hi to depress the same periodically. The member 36 may also be formed with a portion 42 surrounding an opening 43 for cooperation with a cam 44 eccentrically mounted on shaft 45. This shaft 45 may be rotated from any suitable sourceof power (not shown). Secured to the shaft in any convenient manner is a cam, 46 having an actuating face 41 so shaped that it is adapted to raise and drop the web l3 abruptly. The cam 46 may be adjusted so that it is synchronized with the arm 4| inorder to efiect the dispensing of the glue at the time when the web of material is raised as shown in Fig. or possibly just prior to the time when the c m reaches dead center. As shown in this figure, the glue may be deposited on the web slightly in advance of the high point of the cam, with good results.

If it be desired to vary the amount of the glue deposited on the web at each stroke of the plunger l9 it is merely necessary to loosen screws 4|a, raise or lower the arm 4| and tighten the screws. In this way the movement of the plunger l9 and the depth to which the plunger enters the sump |8 will be increased or decreased and the amount of glue dispensed correspondingly varied.

In order that the rapid falling away of the web I3 from the cap 24 may be assured, the guide rollers l0 and 49 may grip the webs with sufficient force so that the web I3 is put under tension when displaced by the cam 46. Such a device is particularly useful with light materials Other suitable means might be employed, if desired, for sharply jerking the web away from the gluing device, and in some cases, as where a heavy web is used, this may be unnecessary. While it is desirable that the portion of the traveling web to which adhesive is to be applied be brought closely adjacent the point at which the adhesive leaves the dispensing device, it will be understood that that web need not actually, and preferably should not, come in actual contact with said device.

As the adhesive is to be applied to but one of the webs, the web H is shown passing over a guide roller 48 clear of the glue or adhesive applying mechanism. The two webs II and 3 are superimposed, preferably just after the glue has been applied to one of them, as they pass between guide rollers 49. The drawing rollers 35, or other convenient device, may serve to press the two webs together to insure the proper action of the adhesive.

At 50 and 5| there are shown, somewhat diagrammatically, properly synchronized means for punching out of the superimposed webs bottle cap liners of the desired size. Various forms of such apparatus are well known and need not be further described herein, any suitable type being employable in connection with the invention.

Through the present invention, wherein the adhesive is applied to the center of the portions of the web adapted to form bottle cap liners, and not at the edges of such portions, the punching operation may advantageously be performed shortly -or substantially immediately after the webs are pressed together, since there is no glue to gum it up. Moreover, the liners may be immediately placed in the bottle caps, as there is no glue oozing from the sides of the liner, and, if desired, the caps may thereupon be immediately placed on the bottles, the pressure of the caps aiding in holding the layers of material together while the adhesive dries. Moreover, possibility of the adhesive crystallizing and the layers becoming separated before the liners are put in the caps is avoided. Also, the sheet material does not have to be rolled up, so that the disadvantage of irregularities between the layers and subsequent formation of wrinkles or folds, is avoided.

As it is understood in the punching art the web may be fed forward intermittently or a rotary punch may be employed where desired.

Different sizes of liners or the like may be produced by changing the size of the punching die and controlling the speed of the web of material accordingly, the longitudinal distance between the glue dispensing device and punch being adjusted so that the latter is centered with respect to each deposit of glue. It is preferred to operate the glue dispensing device simultaneously with the punching die although it is obvious that this mode of operation may be altered. For example, to take care of a variation in the distance between centers, when liners for different sized caps are produced, without changing the longitudinal distance between the punching device and the glue dispensing device the punching device may be operated at the same rate as the glue dispensing device but at a slightly delayed period in order to accommodate such a variation in centers.

As shown in Fig. 4, the bottle cap liner may be composed of a portion 52 from the web H and a portion 53 from the web 13 with a bit of adhesive 54 between the two layers of material. The adhesive should be suflicient to spread over the surface of the material to the desired extent upon the pressing together of the layers, but it will be understood that its extent and configuration is not necessarily such as that shown. We prefer to have the adhesive occupy only the center portion of the liner, while a substantial perimetric portion of the layers 52 and 53 is not covered with adhesive. Accordingly, these edges are free for certain relative movement which has been found to be particularly advantageous in bottle cap liners of the character mentioned, where flexibility and an absence of wrinkles are important in'obtaining adequate sealing. While the method and apparatus are simplified if but a single bit of adhesive is applied to each liner, it will be understood that a plurality of separate bits of adhesive might be applied to the surface of the material.

It may be noted that the side of the material ll adjacent the adhesive is preferably of such character as to form a good bond with the adhesive, and that the material I 3 is advantageously sufliciently yielding to provide a certain cushioning effect when employed between a bottle and rigid closure. While the material ll may be of such character that is treated only on one side to make it impervious and highly resistant to the contents of the jar, as by being water-proofed or grease-proofed on the side opposite to the one to which the adhesive is applied, there is no reason, as far as the present invention is concerned, why the paper may not be resistant on both sides or composed of impervious materials, when a suitable adhesive such as that described in application Serial 1&0. 525,341, filed March 25. 1931, by Louis G. Copes, is used.

The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

This application is a division of our application Serial No. 661,782, filed March 20, 1933. No claim is made herein to the cap liner per se, since claims directed to this feature are being prosecuted in said copending application.

We claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, means to guide a traveling web of material, means periodically to urge a portion of said web upwardly, and means synchronized with the second named means for depositinga bit of adhesive upon the raised portion of the web, said second-named means being constructed and arranged to cause said portion of the web to fall away rapidly substantially immediately after the adhesive has been deposited.

2. In a machine of the character described, means to receive a supply of adhesive, means to guide a traveling web of material, means periodically operable to urge a quantity of adhesive through the bottom of the first-named means onto the traveling web, and a valve adapted to prevent discharge of adhesive from the first-named means save upon operation of the third-named means.

3. In a machine of the character described, means to dispense a bit of adhesive, means to guide a web of material along a path spaced from the first-named means, and a cam adapted periodically to move a portion of said web into close proximity to the first-named means substantially simultaneously with the dispensing of a bit of adhesive.

4. In a machine of the character described, means to draw a web of material forward, means to resist displacement of the web, means between said first two means for periodically urging a portion of the web out of the normal path of travel, and means to apply a bit of adhesive to said portion while it is out of said path.

5. In a machine of the character described. means to draw a web of material forward, means to exert a downward force on the web, means between said first two means for periodically urging a portion of the web out of the normal path of travel, and means to apply a bit of adhesive to said portion while it is out of said path.

6. A method of uniting layers of material comprising passing a web of material along a given path, intermittently displacing portions of. said web to the proximity of a point of discharge of adhesive, quickly withdrawing the web when a bit of adhesive has been discharged thereon and superimposing another web of material on the first mentioned web.

7. In a machine of the character described, means to draw a web of material forward, means to resist lateral displacement of the web, means between the first and second means for periodically urging a portion of the web out of the normal path of travel, means to apply a bit of adhesive to said portion while it is out of said path and means for applying another web of material on the first mentioned web.

8. In the making of a cap liner, the steps com prising passing a web of material along a given path; intermittently displacing portions of said web to the proximity of a point of discharge of adhesive and quickly withdrawing the web when a bit of adhesive has been deposited thereon.

9. In the making of a cap liner, the steps comprising passing a web of material along a given path,intermittently displacing portions of said web to the proximity of a point of discharge of adhesive and quickly withdrawing the web when a bit of adhesive has been deposited thereon, superimposing another web of material on the first named web and severing individual liners from the joined webs.

10. A method for applying adhesive at spaced intervals to a moving web comprising periodically displacing portions of the web to a point of discharge of adhesive and quickly withdrawing the web when a bit of adhesive has been discharged thereon.

11. A method as defined in claim 9 in which the displaced web approaches close enough to the point of discharge of the adhesive to contact the adhesive without contacting the point of discharge.

12. A device as defined in claim 5 in which the means for applying the bit of adhesive is actuated by the means for urging the portion of the web out of its normal path of travel.

JOHN T. HECKEL. RALPH S. WALKER. 

